MadMom and Mutt

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Hiatus

If anybody's still out there...this is a notice that MadMom and Mutt will be taking a little hiatus. Actually, that may be more like a sabbatical. I started another blog a couple months ago that I've really fallen in love with. I warn you, if you go to No Ordinary Princess, it's not quite as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and MadMom as this place. I can be a little risque at times and I've allowed that alternate personality out on NOP. I'm beginning to think it's getting time to integrate. So, I will be primarily posting there.

I'm also anticipating a very busy summer. Hopefully, I'll be starting a new position at work and have the training for and implementation of our computer documentation program and the opening of our new ER, with the Dedicated Fast Track, to look forward to. Won't have nearly as much leisure computer time as I'd like.

Look for things to either pick up here a bit in the fall or for me to close this site altogether then. If you want to follow me, feel free to check out NOP but be prepared...I'm very open there, warts and all!

Which Drug are You?

It's been a little too quiet here as I'm in the middle of working 5 days out of 6! Ugh! I'm more than halfway through, though. Only today and tomorrow and I'm good.

I wound up at Blogthings this morning and simply had to find out what drug my personality was like. Better living through chemistry and all that. People who know me a bit will probably not be surprised to find that:

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Cakes and Silverware

I decided I was hungry before I headed off to bed. So I'm sitting here right now eating a big piece of cake from the local bakery. They make a fabulous cake, so moist there are hardly any crumbs and with a delectable butter cream icing. Sorry, but the newer whipped cream icings do nothing for me. I like my whipped cream on strawberries or Jell-O or ice cream sundaes. It has other uses (NOT huffing! Stupid idea, kids!) which will be reserved for another post, another time, maybe another blog. (Here's where I've been spending a lot of my time recently, if you haven't been there yet.)

I have my father and his side of the family to thank for my amazingly wonderful metabolism. I don't look like a movie star but I don't weigh nearly as much as I should for a woman who likes to eat as I do. Let's just hope my great metabolism doesn't translate itself into hyperthyroidism, as it did for Dad.

I'd like it to be known I feel a pang of remorse as I consume a huge piece of calorie and carb-loaded cake for those women who couldn't look at a piece of cake without gaining two or three pounds. It's this remorse, I think, that dictates my choice of forks. I always choose a small, dessert fork for a prize like this. I eat slowly as a rule and the smaller utensil magnifies that, providing smaller bites. (I have a suspicion that two other factors play important roles in my metabolism...that I do eat slowly. I'm usually the last one done at a dinner table. And that I drink a lot of water every day. I drink between a half-gallon or so on a working day and near or over a gallon when I'm off...more with strenuous physical activity.)

I'm getting to the end, the nitty gritty, as I scoop up any crumbs with the icing that's stuck to the Saran wrap. Somehow, the choice of a smaller piece of flatware seems to make it better. I don't know if it makes women who are more prone to easy weight gain feel any better but for me, it helps ameliorate, a tad, my choice to eat the way I do and not weigh 300 pounds. Please accept my sincere apologies for my diet and metabolism. If it makes you feel any better, I'll probably develop heart disease or emphysema in my 60's, between the diet and the smoking.

But, tonight, I very much enjoyed a large piece of bakery cake with a tall, frothy glass of cold 1% milkfat milk. It was wonderful...and now it's time for bed!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Sadie's New Digs

Sadie needed a new bed. I'd taken the one from the living room down to Mom & Dad's when Dad was sick. (You can look through the March archives for more on my dad.) Yes, you heard right. This pup has three beds. Maybe I didn't spoil the boy completely but I'm apparently remedying that with the dog. I picked up a new bed at PetSmart on Saturday. Sadie was initially cool to it. You know, a new presence in the apartment and all. She's always got to assert that she is top dog, even if the second dog is inanimate.

Tonight, she finally decided to give it trial lay-down. She did it full-force, too, turning around a few times before settling squarely in the middle. Is that even possible with a round bed? I tell you, it warmed the cockles of my heart. Sadie is so dramatic. I think the living room bed is now her newest best friend.

She spent much of the evening trying different positions and generally getting the lay of the bed. You can't fully see it but, in the first photo, there's a pillow in the background that reads, "A spoiled rotten dog lives here."

Saturday, May 20, 2006

New Media Mavericks

It's time to pay the piper...or the Boca Butler, in this case. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the hallowed halls of Boca Java / BloggersFuel coffe reviewers. Of all the kudos I've received over the years, this has got to rank right up there. Nomination for the Excellence in Professional Nursing Practice Award? Pshaw! Just give me free goods! (Really, it's only because I was "one of the first 500 to apply," but we'll pretend othewise for the purpose of this post.)

I make coffee at home in the morning on the days I work. Unfortunately, going off to a twelve-hour shift doesn't leave me much time to immediately blog about the brew I've sampled. This week, I've taken to brewing a "one-cup" (that's "three cups" on my ridiculously measured coffee pot) pot in the evening. Gee, I wonder if that could have anything to do with my recent bout of insomnia.

"'Unfiltered Truth' Lead the information reformation with this medium roast from the prized Tarrazu region of Costa Rica with excellent body and robust richness."

I fancy myself something of a medium roast girl so this was naturally the roast I gravitated toward first. I made this a couple of mornings last week before work and, although the aroma of the freshly-roasted beans and of the grinding made me blush with thoughts of the titillating taste bud tickling to come, the first couple of pots left me wanting...something. It simply lacked some oomph. (I'm not much of a taste-tester so I'm winging it here. Bear with me, huh?)

Now, I wouldn't know a coffee bean from Tarrazu from a girl from Kalamazoo. Well, maybe that one I could get. But, with the exception of Kona, the "coffee-growing" regions might as well all be located in Elizabeth, New Jersey for all I'd know. The aroma released during grinding harkened me back to the days when my family would go shopping at the local A&P on Friday evenings when I was a kid. How I loved it when my folks got their "Eight O'Clock" coffee ground. New Media Mavericks smells very much like that. Eight O'Clock coffee, freshaly ground, is my favorite fall-back brew. If I can't find anything else palatable, I reach for the familiar red (or green) bag.

New Media Mavericks has an interesting, slightly acidic bite to it, which hit me on the first sip and pleasantly continued through the whole cup. It also has a pleasing aftertaste and what I would describe as a smooth finish. But it seemed a little weak. Next day, I added some more beans "for the pot" and was a little happier but still felt as if I wanted to add sugar to it or something. I am a "just a dash of half-and-half" woman. I haven't used sugar in more than 5 years. I didn't get it right until the other evening. I used "four cups'" worth and a little "for the pot" for my "one cup" pot of java. Much better! I finally got the strength right.

I continue to enjoy the pungency of this blend and now know I must brew it strong. I think I might be happier with some more vibrant, dark-roasted blends. Maybe something from the islands? What shall the next brew be?...

What We're All About:

The Sugar Mama: No ordinary princess, MadMom (aka Cheryl), a spiritual journeywoman and consumate sensuist, presents slivers of life as The Mutt's Mistress. She spends her working days as ER nurse extraordinaire trying to provide Sadie with the best life can offer and her days off as a silver-haired, sex-positive, feminist, proud, middle-aged, single, lesbian grandma trying to make her way in the blogosphere and the universe at large.